China is preparing to launch a national cryptocurrency as part of a plan to further develop fintech.
The system could be the most advanced cryptocurrency released to date, opening up the world's largest domestic market to technology.
According to a senior Chinese bank official, cryptocurrency will help preserve the country's monetary sovereignty as the technology continues to grow and more and more use cases are made.
Planning ahead
"Why is the central bank still using that digital currency today, when electronic payment methods are so developed?" Mu said, according to a transcript of a conference he gave this week, published online and reported by Reuters.
"It is to protect our monetary sovereignty and our legal tender status. We must plan ahead for a rainy day."
Mu added that cryptocurrency chips would be as safe as central bank-issued paper bills and could be used even without an internet connection.
The system will share many similarities with the Facebook cryptocurrency recently announced by Libra and will work on existing payment platforms such as WeChat and Alipay.
Facebook is about to launch Libra and its Calibra digital wallet next year, but it hasn't understood what form these two offerings will take. He said that he would not launch Libra until all the regulatory issues were resolved.
Via Reuters